HNYWEF -Chapter 70 A Fearsome Reputation That Still Endures

Twentieth-first day of the seventh month, Zhenguan Year Two.

The official road wound through a mountain valley, dense forests lining both sides.

The sun beat down overhead. Cicadas screeched irritably in the heat. There were barely any travelers on the road—only the father and son walking one after the other.

This was the road toward Bianzhou.

Zhou Yi walked behind, a small bundle slung over his shoulder.

He looked up at the sky, then at the unhurried figure ahead of him.

Suddenly, his steps halted.

There was movement around the bend ahead.

Not birds or animals—human voices. Low, chaotic, several people at once.

Before Zhou Yi could even speak, the group burst out.

More than ten men sprang from the forest, flooding onto the road and blocking it completely.

Their clothes were ragged, their hair disheveled. They held knives, spears, and clubs—though the knives were chipped, the “spears” were sharpened bamboo poles, and the clubs still had bark on them.

Every pair of eyes gleamed as they stared at the two travelers.

The leader was tall and broad, his face full of brutish flesh. His shirt hung open, exposing a patch of black chest hair.

He carried a heavy broadsword. The blade was nicked in several places, but with the way he stood there, he still looked imposing enough.

He strode forward two steps, swung the blade onto his shoulder, and opened his mouth—

“This mountain was opened by me, this tree was planted by me! If you want to pass through here, leave behind your—”

Halfway through, he froze.

His eyes locked onto Zhou Xiong’s face.

As he stared, the color slowly drained from that fleshy face.

His pupils contracted sharply.

The broadsword slipped from his shoulder and crashed to the ground with a clang.

He took a step back.

Then another.

His lips trembled, as though he wanted to say something but couldn’t get the words out.

The little bandits behind him exchanged confused looks. One dimwitted youngster even stepped forward and whispered:

“Boss? What’s wrong?”

The bandit leader ignored him.

He stared at Zhou Xiong and suddenly—

“B-Bear… Bear Blindman?!”

His voice cracked, forced painfully out of his throat.

“It’s Bear Blindman! He’s still alive!”

He spun around and bolted into the woods.

“What are you idiots standing there for?! Want to die?! Run!”

He fled even faster than he had arrived.

The little bandits stood there dumbfounded.

One had his mouth hanging open. Another scratched his head. Someone else still hadn’t remembered to lower his knife.

The dimwitted youngster looked toward the direction their leader had vanished in, then at Zhou Xiong, then back again. His expression was priceless.

“Boss! Boss, wait for me!”

He shouted and ran after him.

Only then did the others snap out of it and scatter after their leader.

Knives dropped. Spears were tossed aside. Clubs littered the ground.

In the blink of an eye, the road was empty again.

Only the father and son remained standing there.

Zhou Yi stood with his mouth open, staring in the direction the bandits had disappeared.

Then he turned to look at his father.

Zhou Xiong stood there expressionlessly.

As though nothing at all had just happened.

Zhou Yi opened his mouth.

He wanted to say something.

But he didn’t know what to say.

He stood there dazed for quite a while before finally managing:

“Dad… they…”

Zhou Xiong glanced at him.

“Mhm.”

Just that one word.

Zhou Yi became even more bewildered.

“Why did they run?”

Zhou Xiong said nothing.

After thinking for a moment, Zhou Yi asked again:

“That bandit leader… did he know you?”

Zhou Xiong nodded.

Zhou Yi froze.

Then suddenly he remembered what the man had shouted earlier—

“Bear Blindman! It’s Bear Blindman!”

Bear Blindman.

He had heard that nickname before.

Uncle Cheng and the others all called his father that.

He stared at his father, eyes wide.

“Dad… were you also a bandit before?”

Zhou Xiong shot him a sideways glance on the spot.

Then he spoke.

“No.”

Zhou Yi waited for him to continue.

Zhou Xiong paused.

“But your dad used to run with the mountain strongholds.”

Zhou Yi blinked.

“Mountain strongholds?”

Zhou Xiong nodded.

“You ever heard of Wagang Stronghold?”

Zhou Yi blinked again.

Wagang Stronghold?

He had heard the name before.

Uncle Cheng and the others mentioned it often while drinking.

But he never knew what it actually was.

Seeing that expression on his face, Zhou Xiong suddenly stepped forward.

He patted Zhou Yi on the shoulder.

“Let’s go.”

Still dazed, Zhou Yi followed after him.

After a few steps, he couldn’t help asking again:

“Dad, was that bandit leader from Wagang Stronghold too?”

Zhou Xiong said nothing.

Zhou Yi waited a moment.

Then asked again:

“Why was he so scared of you?”

Still no answer.

Zhou Yi thought for a moment.

“Did you beat him up before?”

At last, Zhou Xiong spoke.

“I don’t know him.”

Zhou Yi froze.

Zhou Xiong didn’t explain.

He simply kept walking forward.

Zhou Yi stood where he was, staring at that back.

For a long while.

Then he hurried after him.

Jogging a few steps, he caught up beside his father.

“Then what did he mean by ‘he’s still alive’?”

Zhou Xiong’s footsteps paused.

Just for a moment.

“Your father retired from the jianghu more than ten years ago.”

Then he kept walking.

No explanation.

Zhou Yi looked at the side of his father’s face.

There was no expression on it at all.

Back in Luoyang, when his father looked at those clay figurines, he had smiled like a child.

Now there was no smile on his face.

Instead, Zhou Yi could read two words there:

How boring.

He stopped asking questions.

He simply followed behind his father as they continued down the road.

After walking for a while, Zhou Xiong suddenly spoke.

“What was that fellow’s name again…”

Zhou Yi looked up.

Zhou Xiong thought for a moment.

“I think it was Qian Hu or something.”

Zhou Yi froze.

Then suddenly he burst into laughter.

He laughed like he had just found treasure.

“Dad, didn’t you say you didn’t know him?”

Zhou Xiong said nothing.

But the corner of his mouth lifted slightly.

Just slightly.

Zhou Yi saw it.

And his smile grew even brighter.

The sun slowly tilted westward.

Father and son continued onward, one before the other.

Ahead, the official road curved around a bend and disappeared into another stretch of forest.

Birds chirped merrily among the trees.

They sounded very happy.